Bangladesh v India, 3rd ODI: Preview

Having recorded an improbable victory after defending the lowest-ever score in the history of the game, a confident Indian team would look to go for the kill by completing a 3-0 rout when it meets an out-of-sync Bangladesh in the final one-dayer. India defended a paltry 105 with an astounding show, and the Suresh Raina-led side will be quietly positive as they gear up for a clean sweep.

India:

More than dismissing Bangladesh for 58, what Stuart Binny`s unbelievable figures of 6/4 did was to ensure that home team's confidence hits nadir and Suresh Raina's boys will now go for the jugular in the final match of the series to end on a high.

Raina will be happy that while his openers set up a well-deserved win in the first ODI, his seamers did a splendid job in a low-scoring second match. If his middle-order batsmen can get some runs under their belt in the final match, the team will feel that they have ticked all the boxes during this hurriedly sandwiched series before the England tour.

For India, the only cause of concern will be the performance of their middle-order batsmen Ambati Rayudu and Cheteshwar Pujara. While Rayudu was unbeaten during the first match, Pujara has been dismissed cheaply for scores of 0 and 11 in both matches although he suffered in the first one due to an umpiring error.

Time is certainly running out for Pujara as far as his place in the ODI side is concerned. Not the quickest of fielders, Pujara has not even managed a score 20 plus in the five ODIs he has played so far. Rayudu has never looked in control in the 12 ODIs that he has played so far and his strike-rate of less than 70 has not helped India's cause much.

With the series already pocketed, it would be interesting to see whether skipper Raina along with coach Duncan Fletcher experiments a bit with the middle-order. If the team management has an objective of trying out all the fringe players, then the likes of Kedar Jadhav and Manoj Tiwary would deserve a go in the middle-order in place of Rayudu and Pujara.

However, the Indian teams, over the years, have had a knack of sticking to winning combinations even after a particular series has been clinched.India are almost certain to continue while the bowling attack, after the performance of Mohit Sharma and Binny, is likely to remain unchanged. Umesh Yadav went for a few runs but his 12-ball-17 with the bat and the option for pace that he provides settles the issue for him.

Bangladesh:

Bangladesh made a valiant try to defuse India's talented batting order by preparing a seaming pitch which aided their three-pronged pace attack with teen debutant Taskin Ahmed turning out to be a revelation. Little did they know that it would boomerang on them as they neither had the technique nor the gumption to counter the swinging deliveries of Binny.

It will be trouble either way for Bangladesh as a flat track will be a giveaway even for this second rung Indian batting line-up but a track with seam and bounce might spell doom for their batsmen whose questionable temperament has been thoroughly exposed.

With only Shakib Al Hasan and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim showing some form with the bat, it will be a Herculean task for their coach Chandika Hathurasinghe to turn the tide around. Tamim Iqbal, who once used to be India`s nemesis, has completely gone off the boil since the ICC World T20. Some of his strokes in the recent past calls for sanction and in this scenario, one can safely assume that Indians are overwhelming favourites for a clean sweep.

Their bowlers led by newbie, Taskin Ahmed had India in all sorts of trouble in the second ODI and Bangladesh should put faith in the same bowling combination for the final game. But for the pathetic attempt by their batsmen, Bangladesh should have been vying for the series in the 3rd ODI, instead they have now adopted damage control in order to avoid a clean-sweep against an Indian side that is bereft of regular names.